On 15 October 2020, the Slovenian Parliament adopted its Fifth Covid Act (‘Act Determining Interim Measures for Mitigation and Remedy of the Consequences of COVID-19′ (ZZUOOP)). It introduces measures to combat the effects of COVID-19 in the fields of health, work, social protection, economy, education, execution of criminal sanctions and justice, agriculture, economy and food, and infrastructure.
For a full report on details of the Fifth Covid Act, click here. A summary of the key measures relevant to employers is provided below.
Employers are entitled to reimbursement from the state for payments made to employees in quarantine or unable to work because of unavoidable childcare commitments related to the pandemic.
Employers must pay net salary compensations to the employees and to pay all social insurance contributions in order to be entitled to this measure. The percentage of salary compensation employers must pay employees depends on the reason for their absence, varying from 100% where the employee is quarantined after coming in contact with an infected person at work, to 0% if the employee has travelled to a ‘red list’ country and is not eligible for an exception (death of a close relative, birth, court summons, where employer notified in advance).
For employees in quarantine, employers can apply for reimbursement for any period of quarantine after 1 October 2020. For employees with childcare commitments, the measure applies from 1 September 2020 to 31 December 2020 with a possibility of a six-month extension.
This measure applies from 1 October to 31 December 2020 with the possibility of a six-month extension. Under it, employers who are temporarily unable to provide work for employees as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic (subject to some exceptions) are entitled to reimbursement for payments to employees who are temporarily waiting for work.
In order to benefit from this measure employers must have suffered a 20% drop in revenue in 2020 compared to 2019.
Employers taking advantage of this measure must not terminate employees waiting for work for business reasons (they can be terminated for other reasons, such as performance issues), or instigate mass redundancies.
Employees waiting for work are entitled to 80% of their average monthly full-time salary of the last three months. This must not be less than the minimum wage.
The employer is entitled to reimbursement of 80% of the amount paid up to a maximum of EUR 892.50.
The Act states this measure which is currently projected to end off 31 December 2020 can be extended by a further six months until 30 June 2021 at the latest.
4.1 Monthly basic income
This measure provides a monthly basic income to qualifying self-employed individuals and micro-business owners who have suffered a 20% or more drop in revenue as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The aid is EUR 1,100 per month or EUR 700 per month for the self- employed in culture or EUR 940 per month for farmer-beneficiaries who are exempt from employers’ contributions for compulsory pension and disability insurance.
It applies from 1 October to 31 December 2020 with the possibility of extension for a maximum of six months.
4.2 Income reimbursement during quarantine or inability to work because of childcare
Qualifying self-employed people and micro-businesses owners are entitled to EUR 250 for each quarantine period and no more than EUR 250 for ten days, EUR 500 for 20 days and EUR 750 for a month in relation to an inability to work for childcare reasons.
For more details on these and other measures, please consult the full report LINK AGAIN.
